It may be the dim fluorescent lights, the block-shaped furniture or the cheap relief that runs along the walls with images of coffee plantation workers, but the utter lack of pretension at Fong Da Coffee (蜂大咖啡) is as wonderful and refreshing as its coffee.
Open since 1956, Fong Da has focused on offering "gourmet coffee" since well before the term even existed. As the affable manager Cao Chih-guang (曹志光) explained, Fong Da has been serving coffee in the Hsimenting neighborhood from a time when few in Taiwan drank coffee, even if they had the money to do so. The shop's longevity and grandma's-living-room decor makes Fong Da a virtual time capsule, as well as a place to sip on a great cup of joe.
Cao takes considerable pride in his choice of beans from Cuba, Colombia, Brazil, Java, Kona and Guatemala and his brews such as Blue Mountain and Kilimanjaro. The Blue Mountain is the specialty of the house, coming in at a hefty NT200, while other coffees don't exceed NT$120. The coffee is served straight, so asking for a skinny almond latte will draw nothing but frowns from the motherly wait staff, some of whom have been working at Fong Da for over 20 years. The single coffee drink on the menu that doesn't come strictly black is an exceptionally rich iced coffee (NT$85).
An additional pleasure at Fong Da is the array of traditional Taiwanese cakes and pastries displayed at the entrance. These include a delicious almond shortcake, walnut cookies, green bean paste cakes and, for the Mid-Autumn Festival, an array of mooncakes, all priced between NT$10 and NT$50.
According to Cao, when Fong Da first opened, its was the largest coffee house in Taipei, drawing a mix of foreigners, mostly from the coffee-drinking countries of Southeast Asia, and their Taiwanese friends, some of them TV personalities and pop stars. A cup of coffee at the time cost NT$2. The crowd has changed, but the sense of history and old-time charm at Fong Da remain, like the decades-old unsold boxes of coffee grinders stacked behind the door. Fong Da Coffee is located at 42 Chengtu Rd., Taipei (臺北市成都路42號).
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